“The society of women is the element of good manners,” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said.

China’s upper middle class ladies are proof of such assertion. Over the last few years, good manners, from etiquette to deportment, public conduct and party hosting, have come to the attention of many wealthy Chinese women, who, as the country’s new richest, but also as wives, mothers and socialites, are being rapidly exposed to a whole new set of social situations – and want to know exactly how to navigate them.

Enter Institute Sarita, China’s first finishing school. Started by Swiss finishing school graduate and Hongkonger Sara Jane Ho in Beijing in 2013 together with socialite Rebecca Li, the school, which claims to offer a bicultural approach to etiquette, has been met with tremendous popularity over the last two years – so much so that Ho had to relocate it from a two-story space in the city’s modern Sanlitun area to a larger, renovated courtyard setting in a historic neighborhood, all the while opening a new branch in a colonial villa in Shanghai in May 2015.

For about $15,000, well-heeled Chinese women can take part in 10- to 12-day courses, divided by either debutante or hostess classes, with lessons covering socializing tips, proper hotel manners, lingerie selection, introduction to French cuisine and noble sports, and how to pronounce luxury brands.

Ho’s clientele flies from all over China to attend classes in either Beijing or Shanghai, with many students coming from second- and third-tier cities. “These women are all incredibly affluent and very much interested in adopting a higher measure of quality of life,” says Ho. “Institute Sarita provides them with a kind of learning that’s increasingly becoming essential as they travel the world, study abroad, buy property, do business internationally, and send their kids to top boarding schools.”

But it’s not just the ultra-rich wanting to learn savoir-vivre. Last month, Ho released a book titled Finishing Touch: Good Manners for the Debutante under the CITIC publishing group, which sold over 20,000 copies in less than a week and was sold out online almost immediately after its launch. Li, Ho’s partner, wrote a companion to the manual called Elegant Hostess: Good Manners for the Lady of the House, aimed at an older readership. It also performed exceedingly well.

“Both books are somewhat new in the field in China – they focus on lifestyle in a variety of manners – which I think has really piqued people’s attention,” says Ho. “The fact that they are only 49 yuan (around $7) also gives the chance to a whole new audience to grasp a slice of the high-end cosmopolitan vision I want to push forward.” While the majority of the attendees at her first book talk were part of the Sarita network, some, Ho says, were indeed middle-class women eager to learn how to be a 21st century lady.

“Our target readers are Chinese ladies who are way ahead of their peers,” says Ho.

Finishing Touch offers a condensed overhaul of the traditional Swiss curriculum, tailored to Chinese women. The first section is about the rules of society, with insights on how to be a guest but also pet etiquette, which is particularly relevant in a country obsessed with their four-legged friends. Other sections cover food and drink, beauty and grooming, and special occasions. A whole chapter is devoted to WeChat, China’s most popular messaging service, and its dos and don'ts. But there are also tips on social media in general, and how to live in the modern world. In the last section, which analyzes dating, Ho even touches upon abuse and domestic violence, something that’s somewhat of a hidden epidemic in China, where about a quarter of all married women have suffered violence in their marriages.

“I am trying to redefine the idea of etiquette,” says Ho, “moving away from the stale idea we have of it. And that means challenging current rules, but also giving women the knowledge and confidence to be a better version of themselves and be independent, strong individuals.”

Institute Sarita isn’t the only school offering etiquette classes to China’s moneyed. London-based luxury lifestyle school Debretts caters to foreign students looking to fit in outside of China. In Shanghai, Virginia Manners specializes in international social etiquette and business etiquette for women, while Académie de Bernadac targets parents with young kids.

Their marketing approach might vary, but at the end of the day, it’s always women that seek out these schools.

“My students are mothers, mostly, who want to fit in their new environments, and adapt to the world changing around them so that they can then teach their children the same, and become truly global citizens,” says Ho. “They are eager to learn because it’s a way for them to feel empowered.”